EMS, The Next Fitness Craze.

June 7, 2016

I was invited by Intercontinental Doha The City to try out EMS and I said yes without knowing what it was. I saw the words “workout” and “fitness” in one sentence which at first I found weird but then it was a great and welcome break from all the food invites that I’ve been getting.

What is EMS?

EMS stands for ‘Electric Muscle Stimulation’ which is a full body training exercise using impulse current. During traditional exercise, the brain sends signals to the muscles to bring about contractions. EMS mimics the action of the central nervous system, activating muscles in the same way, but using external impulses.

These are delivered via electrodes onto the skin directly above the muscles. The impulses reach deep muscle layers which are hard to activate through conventional training. Your muscles will not tell the difference, but work out much more effectively.

Because of this, we have to wear a special EMS suit which will allow easy penetration of the impulses into our body. For women, it’s highly recommended that you don’t wear a sports bra beneath it but not really mandatory. I was wearing one and I could barely feel the impulses on my chest so if you want to fully use EMS to its potential, don’t wear one.

Tim, the EMS instructor is a professional. He knows what he’s doing and explains everything to you in detail before doing the workout. Before the training began, Tim gave me all the equipment we will use during the EMS workout – a vest (which when worn felt like a corset as it’s very tight), bands on my arms, thighs and buttocks. My posture was immediately corrected by the tight corset-like vest, I think I need to buy this vest for this reason alone. He then “plugged me in” to the EMS machine.

First step was to set the electric impulses based on my tolerance to it. I have tried electric simulations before through my physiotherapy sessions and it’s exactly how it felt like. It didn’t hurt, you’ll just feel like hundreds of ants are crawling through your skin where the electrodes are. It also wasn’t bothersome but because I’m very ticklish, I couldn’t help but laugh once the electrodes on my abdomen and thighs were turned on.

Once I was all geared up, we started the workout with all the electric impulses on which causes the muscles to contract more,intensifying natural muscle activity. We only did the basics, squats and some arm exercises. The whole workout lasted for only 10 minutes and yet, I was sweating like a pig and was out of breath afterwards. 10 minutes people!!! 10 minutes!

Although I wasn’t very tired after that, I really did feel like I had a proper workout. My leg muscles were shaking when I left the hotel. The next day, while I wasn’t as sore as when I went to the gym, I could feel that my muscles were still a bit tight from that 10-minute workout.

I was told that you can only do an EMS workout for a maximum of 20 minutes per session and a maximum of 3 times a week. It doesn’t have a hazardous effect on your body except that, you just need to give time for your muscles to relax a bit and not strain it too much.

20 minutes of EMS workout is equivalent to 4 hours of training, this is due to the fact that every major muscle group is being activated at the same time. You get a lot more contractions and muscles trained than conventional training. A normal squat with EMS means almost all the muscles in your body are working which makes the workout far more difficult but more convenient if you ask me.

For someone who suffers from back and neck pain all the time, I think EMS exercise is the best for me as it’s low impact and doesn’t strain my shoulder muscles as much as doing a conventional exercise.

Will I try it again? Absolutely BUT only if someone gives me the money to do so. It’s freaking expensive if you ask me. The price is QAR350 per session which is equivalent to 1 month membership fee in Aspire Active with Olympic-size pool access. As much as I’d love to do it again, I just can’t shell out that amount of money per session.

If you do have the money for it though, I absolutely and highly recommend it (and maybe you can give me some so I can do it too, lol). I really can see myself doing this workout regularly as it’s just 20 minutes per session and the result is much more effective than a regular workout. I’ll probably just wait for it to be in the Entertainer App maybe, if there are any plans for it. :p

Here’s my full EMS experience at the Intercontinental Doha The City as seen through snapchat. You should follow me on snapchat by the way, I’m pinayflyinghigh on there. 🙂

EMS at Intercontinental Doha The City.
Male and female trainers are both available upon request.
Package rate for 10 sessions is QAR3000. Rate for one session is QAR350.
Sessions are subject to availability and scheduling is required.
The Health and Fitness Club is on the 46th floor at InterContinental Doha The City.
For more information and reservations please call 4015 8661 or email emma.robb@ihg.com

I was invited to try EMS by Intercontinental Doha The City however as always, photos are my own and opinions stated are genuine and in no way influenced. Special thanks goes to Lavanya for being my official photographer.